The FTSE 100 was trading up 0.18% at 7,555 going into the close on Wednesday in defiance of recession worries following an inverted US government bond yield curve.
European stocks slumped with the signalling of recession from the bond markets on Wednesday, followed by the DAX down 0.8%, CAC slipped 0.6% and Ibex 35 fell 0.5%.
FTSE 100 was the outlier with its gains of 0.2% on Wednesday thanks to ‘”strength in miners and oil producers,” stated Russ Mould, Investment Director, AJ Bell.
Commodities prices boosted the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, as doubts around peace talks between Russia and Ukraine helped lift commodity prices.
Oil prices have gained 3% to $114 a barrel, climbing back from the losses suffered earlier this week.
Shell and BP topped the FTSE 100 with shares rising 3.1% and 1.9% respectively.
Amongst commodity stocks, miners reaped the gains as metal prices rebounded, with Anglo American seeing a 2.8% increase to 2,086p.
Glencore, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining all saw shares strengthen 2.5%, 2.3%, 1.5% and 1%, respectively.
FTSE 100 Fallers
Experian, the world’s largest credit data provider, saw its shares fall 2.7% after Citigroup downgraded the stock from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’.
Pearson shares dropped 11.5% to 695p after Apollo announced it will not be placing any new bids for the education publishers.
IAG shares lost 2.3% to 145p as Europes travel-related shares declined as oil prices gained.
RBC downgraded Lloyds Banking Group from ‘buy’ to ‘underperform’ on the basis of the growth drives not seeming to be ‘game changing’, leaving the shares to spiral down 2% to 49p.